Ahmadinejad should 'open nightclubs’, says Iran MP

A hardline Iranian MP has taken a jibe at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for
failing to support an Islamic dress code for women, suggesting the president
should now move to open “nightclubs” in the Islamic republic.

Iran President Mahmoud AhmadinejadPhoto: REUTERS

7:22PM BST 20 May 2012

Fars news agency quoted MP Ali Motahari as saying that the president’s alleged lax views on the Islamic dress code had allowed women, directly and indirectly, to dress in a way promoting “sexual provocation”.

“The situation of the (Islamic) veil is tragic ... thanks to the apparent and hidden encouragement by the president,” Fars quoted Motahari as saying.

Ahmadinejad and his chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie have promoted a situation in which girls now “wear (in public) pants, and coats that don’t cover the knees,” he said.

“They have actually allowed sexual provocation ... and now, they should think of opening nightclubs and cabarets,” he added sarcastically in reference to Ahmadinejad and Mashaie.

Ahmadinejad, who has on occasion spoken against the use of police to enforce the Islamic dress code, is seen as too liberal by Iran’s hardline regime. And Mashaie is accused of having a negative influence on his boss.